Telephone and Postal
Service
The French telecommunications agency is called France
Télécom, the postal service is La Poste. Both work efficiently, though customer
service at post offices may not be great. So, be prepared to wait in lines.
There are many bureaux de poste scattered throughout the city.
These are identified by the blue-on- yellow La Poste sign
(see p373). Public telephones are located in most public places, including on
the streets and in railroad and metro stations. If you are dialling abroad from
Paris, the best way is to purchase a telephone card (télécarte), then find a quiet
location to call from.
USING THE TELEPHONE
To use a Paris payphone, you generally need a phone card
(télécarte), though some accept credit cards. Sold in Tabaco, post offices, and
some newsstands, télécartes are available in 50 or 120 telephone units.
Remember to buy a new card before the old one runs out! Coin telephones have
virtually disappeared from the streets of Paris. Collect calls are known as PCV
in France.
Most telephone booths can be called from anywhere.
The phone booth number is displayed above the telephone
unit.
All French phone numbers have ten digits. The first two
digits indicate the region: 01 indicates Paris and the Ile de France; 02, the
northwest; 03, the northeast; 04, the southeast; and 05, the southwest. Do not
dial the initial zero when phoning from abroad.
Most new cell phones brought from another European or
Mediterranean country can be used in France. Alert your network before
traveling so that they can set it up to roam. US-based cell phones need to be
“triple band” to be used in France.
Remember that the making and receiving of international
cell phone calls can be very expensive.
INTERNET ACCESS
Internet access is widely available in Paris, including
WiFi access in many hotels, bars, and cafés along with free WiFi spots dotted
around central streets, parks, and gardens. Note that the French
modern socket is incompatible with US and UK plugs.
Mail and Postal Services –
Using La Poste In addition to all normal services –
telegrams, postage stamps, registered letters, special delivery, delivery of
packages, and books – the post office also sells collectors’ stamps, and will
cash or send international money orders. Fax and telex services, as well as
public telephones, are available in all main offices.
Paris Arrondissements
The districts or arrondissements of Paris are numbered
from 1 to 20. The first three numbers of the
postcode – 750 (sometimes 751) – indicate Paris; the last two give the
arrondissement number. The first arrondissement’s postcode is 75001.
SENDING A LETTER
Common postage stamps (timbres) are sold singly or in
carnets of ten. These are valid for letters and postcards up to 20 g
(approximately an ounce) to most EU countries. Stamps can often be bought in
tabacs. Paris post office hours are 8am –7pm (or 8pm) Mon – Fri, 8am – noon
Sat. At post offices you can consult the phonebook (annuaire), buy phonecards
(télécartes), send or receive money orders (mandats) and call anywhere in the
world. Letters are dropped into yellow mailboxes.
For poste restante (mail holding), the sender should write
the recipient’s name in block letters, then “Poste Restante”, then the address
of the Paris-Louvre post office.
When sending a letter poste restante, it is wise to
underline the last name or write it in capitals, as French officials otherwise
may assume the first name listed is the family name.
MAIN POST
OFFICES
Paris-Louvre
52 Rue de
Louvre 75001.
Tel 3631.
# 24 hrs daily.
Paris-Forum
des Halles
Forum des
Halles 75001.
Map 13 A2. Tel 3631. # 8am–
6pm Mon–Fri, 8am–noon Sat.
CUSTOMS AND
IMMIGRATION
For travellers coming from within the EU’s “Schengen”
zone (ie. those that agreed to the Schengen Treaty), in theory no documentation
at all is needed to enter France.
However, in these days of greater security, it is wise to
carry a passport at all times.
For “non-Schengen” nationals, including UK nationals, a
passport (or similar) is required.
Visitors from the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
do not need a visa if staying under 3 months. However, for a trip over 3
months, a visa must be applied for from the French consulate in the visitor’s
own country before leaving.
TAX-FREE
GOODS
The purchase of goods “Duty Free” for export to another
EU country is no longer possible.
Visitors resident outside the European Union can reclaim
the sales tax (TVA, or VAT; see p320) they
pay on French goods if they spend more than €175 in the
same store in one day and take the goods out of France.
Détaxe receipts can be issued on purchase to reclaim the
tax paid, and reimbursements are collected when exiting the EU, which must be
within 3 months of purchase. There are some goods you cannot
claim a rebate on, namely food and drink, medicines,
tobacco, cars, and motorbikes.
DUTY-PAID AND
DUTY-FREE GOODS
There are no longer any restrictions on the quantities of
duty-paid and VAT-paid goods you can take from one EU country to another, as
long as they are for your own use and not for resale. You may be asked to prove
the goods are for your own use if they exceed the EU suggested quantities. If
you cannot do so, the entire amount of the goods (not just the deemed excess)
may be confiscated. The suggested limits are: 10 liters of spirits (i.e. drinks
over 22° proof), 90 liters of wine (of which a maximum of 60 liters can be
sparkling), 110 liters of beer and five multipacks of cigarettes. Some dangerous
goods are illegal. Visitors under the age of 17 are not allowed to import duty-paid
tobacco or alcohol.
STUDENT INFORMATION
Students with valid ID cards benefit from discounts of
25–50% at theatres, museums, movie theatres, and many public monuments. An ISIC
card (the International Student ID card) may be purchased from all of the main
travel agencies and the Centre d’Information et de Documen-
tation Jeunesse (CIDJ). CIDJ provides information on many
aspects of student life in Paris and can furnish a list of inexpensive
accommodations, including the Bureau Voyage Jeunesse (BVJ), which has 2 hostels
in central Paris with double rooms and dormitory accommodations at reasonable
prices.
IMPORTING OTHER
GOODS
In general, all personal goods (eg. car or bicycle) may
be imported to France if they are obviously for personal use and not for sale. The
brochure Voyagez en toute liberté clarifies this. It is available from the
Centre below, which also gives advice on import regulations (usually in
French).
CUSTOMS
INFORMATION
Centre des
Renseignements des Douanes
Tel 08 11 20 44 44.
# 8:30am–6pm Mon–Fri.
ELECTRICAL
ADAPTORS
The voltage in France is 220 volts. Plugs have two small
round pins; heavier-duty installations have two large round pins. Better hotels
offer built-in adaptors for shavers only or will lend you an adaptor. Adaptors
can be bought at department stores, such as BHV.
INTERNATIONAL
BOOKSTORES
Brentano’s
37 Ave de
l’Opéra 75002.
Tel 01 42 61 52 50.
# 10am–7:30pm Mon–Sat.
Gibert Jeune
5 Place
St-Michel 75005.
Map 13 A4. Tel 01 56 81 22 22.
# 9:30am–7:30pm Mon–Sat.
WH Smith
248 Rue de
Rivoli 75001. Map 11
C1. Tel 01 44 77 88 99. # 9am–
7:30pm Mon–Sat, 1–7:30pm Sun.
TV, RADIO, PRESS
British and other European papers can be bought on the day
of publication at maisons de la presse (newsagents) or kiosques (newsstands)
through-out the city. Some are European or international
editions, such as The Sun, Financial Times Europe and the
Guardian International, The Weekly Telegraph, USA Today, The Economist, and The
International Herald Tribune.
The main French national dailies are – from right to left
on the political spectrum – Le Figaro, Le Monde, Libération, and L’Humanité. The
weeklies include satirical Le Canard Enchaîné, news magazines Le Nouvel
Observateur, Marianne, and L’Express, and numerous titles devoted to fashion,
gossip and gastronomy.
The French TV channels are TF1 and France 2, both with a
lightweight mix, France 3, with documentaries, debate and classic films, 5e
(“La Cinquième”) and the Franco-German high-culture ARTE, which share a channel
specialising in arts, classical music, and movies, and M6 airing mainly music
and reality TV shows. Cable and satellite channels include CNN, Sky, a variety
of BBC channels and the English- and French-language news channel, France 24.
PARIS TIME
Paris is one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) all
year round. The French use the 24-hour clock, therefore, 9am is 09:00, 9pm is
21:00. New York is 6 hours behind Paris and Los Angeles is 9 hours behind.
CONVERSION CHART
US standard to metric
1 inch = 2.54 centimeters
1 foot = 30 centimeters
1 mile = 1.6 kilometers
1 ounce = 28 grams
1 pound = 454 grams
1 US quart = 0.947 liter
1 US gallon = 3.78 liters
Metric to US standard
1 millimeter = 0.04 inch
1 centimeter = 0.4 inch
1 meter = 3 feet 3 inches
1 kilometer = 0.6 mile
1 gram = 0.04 ounce
1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds
1 liter = 1.1 US quarts
BBC Radio 4 can be picked up during the day, while at
night, BBC World Service uses the same channel (648AM or 198 Long Wave). Radio
France International (738AM) gives excellent daily news in English on their
website www.rfi.fr.
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